University of Tetouan launches green number for on campus sexual harrassment reporting

The presidency of Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Tetouan, which includes higher education institutions in Tangier, has announced the launch of a toll-free number that can be reached by any student wishing to report sexual harassment on campus.

An email address is also available to collect complaints, as both the number and email will for the utmost respect of the discretion and anonymity of both complainants and witnesses.

The initiative was launched a week after revelations of sexual harassment at the King Fahd School of Translation in Tangier.

If the university has not intervened in this case, which had been an internal issue since December 9, 2021, and is now subject to a judicial investigation, more victims in other institutions under its presidency could eventually come forward.

Last week, after a series of revelations about sexual harassment and extortion by a teacher at the National School of Business and Management Oujda (ENCGO), came to light, the city’s Mohammed I University opened a phone line and an email address the same day.

The Presidency also announced the creation of a committee to listen and provide any psychological and legal support for the victims.

A special investigative committee was deployed by the Ministry of Higher Education, whose report resulted in the resignation of the president of ENCGO, as well as the vice-president and the secretary-general.

The accused professor was suspended from his pedagogical and administrative functions as head of the department, while an emergency disciplinary council was held.

Since the ENCGO scandal, many female students have come out of their silence to denounce on-campus sexual harassment.

Whether the perpetrators are part of the academic, administrative, or security staff, or fellow male students, Moroccan women enrolled in the kingdom’s institutions are starting to feel more encouraged to come out and hold the harassers accountable.

Women’s rights associations and NGOs are still calling for stronger judicial measures against any type of harassment, while the government slowly unfolds its “nationwide anti-harassment” campaign, announced by the Ministry last week.